


Shark Attack

by VirgilVirgilVirgil



Series: Gravity [5]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Brother-Sister Relationships, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Family, Father-Daughter Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Flirting, Hurt/Comfort, Loss, Love, M/M, Male Friendship, Male-Female Friendship, Original Character(s), The Force, Trauma, Travel, Wanderlust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-08-21
Packaged: 2018-12-17 11:48:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11850945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VirgilVirgilVirgil/pseuds/VirgilVirgilVirgil
Summary: To optimize dysfunction mix:1 part prissy pragmatist1 part overtly friendly Force user1 part loyal friend1/2 part empathetic idealist (half portion selected for optimal cuteness)1 part belligerent smart-ass





	1. Building a Crew // Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Guys! I'm actually managing to get this up early! I'm going to do my very, very best to post a new chapter every day!

Cohren and Iz watched Cerys buzz around the ship, checking the various controls. The ship, they’d told him, had been out of commission since he’d first met them. No doubt it was due for a checkup, especially if they were planning to use it for their big trip.

“Have you traveled much?” Iz asked him, watching Cerys with a grin. Cohren was glad Iz had returned from his training. He’d always liked Iz’s friendly nature, and even more than that, Cerys was completely smitten with him. He made her very happy.

“A little here and there. Certainly not as much as you have, from the sounds of it. I think you two are going to have a great trip.”

Iz tilted his head a little, “Eh… I don’t know that I’d call it a trip. That would imply that we have a destination in mind.”

Cerys, walking past them, froze. “But we do.” She pointed to the map tacked to the wall behind them, with various planets circled. “We don’t really have a _final_ destination, but we do have a few places we’re stopping for sure.”

“Right.”

“Right.” She nodded and scurried off again.

Iz laughed to himself. “She’s… very excited.”

“I can tell.” Cohren was a little amused with the disparity in their travel styles. Iz seemed to be in it for the journey, while Cerys had a very specific idea of exactly where she wanted to stop.

“How long do you think you’ll be gone?”

“Ah… I think we’re aiming for about a year.”

“10 months if we stick to the schedule!” She shouted from whatever room she was in.

Iz laughed, shaking his head. “Ten months.”

Cerys came back through the room.

“You know we don’t leave for another week and a half? You don’t have to check everything right now…”

She frowned at him, “What are you talking about? Of course I have to check everything now. What if something needs to be repaired or replaced? I don’t want to have to deal with that last minute.”

Iz nodded, “Okay, yeah. I didn’t think of that.”

“How did you ever manage to get across the galaxy without thinking ahead like this?” It sounded sarcastic, but her face said she was sincerely confused.

He scratched his nose. “It helps that I didn’t have a schedule.”

“Cerys, you’re running around like you’ve got no time… do you at least need any help?” Cohren paused. “Not that I know much about repairs, but I’m decent at taking direction.”

She looked at him, tilting her head to the side. She looked at Iz. “Did you hear that? He’s decent at taking direction.”

“Hm… I did, I did. That sounds useful.”

“Really useful. I bet,” she waved the wrench in her hand at him, “I bet you can reach up into the overhead panels.”

He looked up. The ceiling was only about 8 feet high. His height came in handy for these sort of things. “Eh… yeah. Do you not have a step stool?”

“No. We don’t have one of those.” Iz said.

Cerys sounded very grave. “I don’t think we’ll be able to get one before we leave.”

“What are you talking about? Just go to the…”

She smirked at him, her eyebrow raised. Iz was covering his mouth, smiling.

“Oh. Oh. Are you two asking me to… join you?”

Iz squinted at the ceiling. “I mean it really looks like a pain in the ass to get up there. We could use someone tall.”

“And you are a much better pilot than either of us.”

He was caught completely off guard by the offer. “I… Oh. I don’t know. I have a job…”

“Is it really something you can’t leave?”

Cerys rolled her eyes at Iz’s comment. “I know, I know. But… think of this as an opportunity. You get to spend 10 months piloting a vessel across the galaxy. And there will be lots of stops…”

Iz motioned to her map, “Just _look_ at all those stops.”

“And a lot of new places and things to discover… and your job will be here when we get back. Everything will be here when we get back. Just… come on, Cohren. It’s going to be the most amazing thing, and we could really use the help, and you’ll never get this kind of a chance again.”

He was trying to run through everything in his mind. His job: He was fond of it, but the experience piloting might actually be better for the direction he wanted to move in, professionally. His apartment: he didn’t want to keep paying for it while he was away. Maybe he could find someone else to take it? His mother: That wouldn’t be an issue. She was always in support of this sort of thing, especially if it involved good people like Iz and Cerys.

“Please?” She gave him her best pleading look.

“I… okay. Okay. I think I can do it.”

“Yes!” She threw her arms around him. “Okay, in that case, yes, I do need your help. Go stand in the control room; I’m going to yell at you what switch I need you to flip.”


	2. Building a Crew // Part 2

Cerys watched Iz fidget nervously next to her as the ship landed. They’d been to 5 different planets so far on their trip, but this was the first one he was nervous about. Understandably so – this was Nohma, the little beachy planet he’d been raised on. They were here for the sole purpose of visiting his family’s home, the one he’d left a decade ago for Force training and never returned to after his family was killed.

She put a hand on his shoulder. “You okay?”

He nodded, not really looking like he was okay. “Er… Yeah. Yeah. I’m good. I’m glad you’re here. I don’t think I could do this without you.”

The ship touched down on the sandy area he’d asked Cohren to land. The towering blonde man poked his head out of the cockpit. “Iz… you grew up here?!”

“Yeah.”

“Lucky you… It’s beautiful out there.” He nodded to the ramp as it whirred open to the sunshine outside. “You guys go ahead, I’ll catch up with you in a few.”

It was his way of giving them some private time. This was an emotional visit for Iz, and Cohren was kind enough to recognize that.

They made their way off the ship, into the sand. Cohren was right – it was breathtakingly beautiful. His family’s home was located on a little island, opposite a small village. It was right next to the shore, looking out over the sea, with a long dock where one would usually find a porch, jutting out into the blue-green water.

“Do you think someone else lives here?”

“I don’t know…” He made his way up to the dock, peering inside the large window. He hesitated. “No… It’s the same. Same furniture.” His eyes stayed focused inside. He was silent for a moment. “Nothing’s moved.”

She peered in after him. The room was an open layout, with lots of seating and a kitchen area off to the back. It was clearly a home meant for people, for people to sit and talk and share stories and be together. A thick layer of dust was visible on some of the wall hangings. Nobody had been inside in a very long time.

Before she realized what he was doing, he was scraping at a window on the side of the house, trying to pry it open. “This window opens from the outside if you do it right… Oz and I used to sneak out all the time.”

It finally popped open, stuck from years of neglect. He pulled himself through and went around to the giant window overlooking the dock. He pushed it open and she realized it was actually a gigantic, folding door that opened the entire house up to the ocean. “It needs to breathe in here. That door hasn’t been opened in a long time.”

He offered her his hand, and led her inside. She followed, looking around curiously at the dust covered items. He was quiet, reflective, running his fingers over the table tops, leaving little trails of life in the dust.

“Do you want to see my room?”

She smiled at him, “Of course I do.”

He took her hand again and led her up to the second story, to a corner room. It had two little beds and a small window with a view of the tropical forested area around them. “Oz and I had to share a room… we couldn’t sneak out that window because it was too high up. The key was getting down the stairs without waking my parents up.” He went to the far bed and sat, looking around. It was in remarkably good condition, the blankets were still wrapped neatly around each bed.

She sat next to him. “This one was yours?”

“It was.” He looked a little absent-minded. She kissed him. When she drew back, she saw he was smiling widely. He nodded to the other bed. “I distinctly remember sitting here, facing that bed and plotting with my brother how we’d someday manage to get girls into our room.” He squeezed his eyes shut, laughing. “I did it!”

 

 

Cohren made the suggestion they clean the place. They made a project of it, spending the rest of the day doing what they could with the supplies from their ship, and actually managed to get the place in pretty good condition by the time the sun was setting. Cerys actually got the stove working and made them all dinner, and they ate on the dock under the stars, listening to the gentle noise of the sea and laughing.

“Did you want to go into the village tomorrow?” Cohren asked. From the ship, it’d looked like it would only be a 10 or 15 minute walk.

Iz’s smile faltered a little. “I… I don’t know. I…” He looked back, shrugging. “I don’t know if I can, honestly. These little villages – they never change. People will… they’ll know who I am. They’ll remember my family. I don’t know if I can do that. Not yet, at least.”

She squeezed his hand and he smiled a little. They would do whatever he wanted. This part of the trip was entirely for him.

Cohren nodded. “Whatever you feel best doing. I’m going to be very content sticking around here on the beach for awhile.”

“Yeah, you can’t complain about the view here, can you?” She laughed.

Cohren got to his feet, “Well, I’m going to be the boring one… I’m exhausted from cleaning, I’m going to head off to bed early. If I’m not awake when you two are up for the morning, come get me?” He started off for their ship.

“Hey. Where are you going?” Iz nodded to the house, “All the beds are clean. You should sleep inside.”

He glanced to the house. “Oh. Are you sure?”

"Yeah, of course. All the bedrooms are on the top level. You can take the first one at the top of the stairs.”

Cohren smiled and clapped Iz’s shoulder. “Thanks. I’ll see you guys tomorrow morning.”

They watched him disappear into the house.

“He’s a good guy.” Iz said. “I’m really happy he agreed to come along.”

“Iz, did you just tell him to take your old room?”

Iz stifled a giggle. “Yeah.”

She laughed, picturing the towering man trying to figure out how he was going to sleep on a bed a foot too short for him.

 

**

 

Cohren was not surprised when he was the first to wake the next morning. He figured Iz and Cerys would want some time.

It was explicitly clear Iz had played a joke on him the night before – there was no possible way he could have fit into the beds in the room he’d told him to take. He struggled to fit his legs into a normal sized bed, usually needing to angle himself to fit comfortably. He opted for the room next door, and decided to spend the morning plotting how to get back at Iz.

He washed his face and made his way down to the kitchen. Iz and Cerys had left the massive front door open. He hoped they meant to. He stood at the edge of the house and the dock, looking out over the breathtaking ocean view, and stretched. He could get used to waking up like this.

“What are you doing in my house?”

The voice made him jump. He whirled around to see a very short young woman, in her teens, hoisting herself up onto the counter top near the kitchen area. She sat, and looked at him with a smile. “At first I thought I’d have to attack you, but then I wondered what sort of thief or squatter would clean my house for me.”

“Uh…”

“I sort of want to thank you, but I would appreciate it if you’d tell me what the hell you’re doing here before I do so.” She had such a friendly smile.

“Er… I… Um… I’m really, really sorry. We didn’t know this house was inhabited…”

Her smile flickered. “We? There are more?”

“Er… yeah. My friends are upstairs…”

The smile disappeared. “Your friends?” She looked to the stairs, then slid off the counter and started up them. “I don’t know who you people think you are…”

He followed after her, catching up to her easily. While he was remarkably tall, she was remarkably short.

“Wait, hold on. You don’t just want to barge in there.” He put his hands out to stop her. “Like I said, we’re terribly sorry. We had no idea. We’ll clear out quickly.”

She frowned up at him. “You all just barge right into my home, what makes you think I shouldn’t just barge into the room I own?”

“Look, they’re a couple. Just… knock first, okay?”

Her mouth dropped open. “ _What sort of people are you?!_ ” She went to the closed door, grumbling, and started banging on the door. “… sleeping in my parent’s room… Excuse me! Open up! I’m the owner of this house!”

 

 **

 

The noise at the door made them both jerk awake – Iz flew out of bed so quickly he nearly fell over.

“Open up! I’m the owner of this house!”

She jumped out of bed threw something on quickly. Iz stumbled around, half asleep for a moment, then went to the door, shirtless. “Er… wha?”

Outside the door, a very short girl -– maybe 16 or so -- stood scowling up at him. “Get. Out. This is my house. Take whoever it is you have in there and get out.”

Cerys’ stomach sank. They certainly hadn’t meant to trespass.

“What? Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t know…”

She went to his side. The short girl shot her a sharp glare and crossed her arms, looking like she was about to tear them both to pieces. “Who do you think you are? How dare you…”

Iz, always the peacekeeper, put his hands up innocently. “I’m sorry, really. My name is Itzuazua Uru, my family used to live here. We came by yesterday and the place looked deserted… It looked like nobody had been here since they left. I’m really sorry, I had no idea…”

The girl’s expression softened. “Iz?”

“Uh… er… yeah.”

Looking like she was about to cry, she threw her arms around him, hugging to him tightly. Iz stepped back a little, glancing to her with a nervous smile that said: _Please help me, this girl is crazy._

“Ah… Excuse me?” Cerys was about to peel the girl off him.

“I knew you’d come back if I stayed here long enough!”

Iz opened his mouth but a weird, airy huff came out rather than words. He shook his head a little and pulled the girl off him, looking at her with a completely bewildered expression. The girl had tears running down her face.

“… Pip?”

Pip… She’d heard him say the name before. She thought back, trying to remember the context.

The girl laughed and wiggled out of his grip, hugging him again, “I can’t believe it’s really you! I’ve been waiting for so long…”

She felt a little blindsided when she remembered: Pipista was the name of his youngest sister. But she had passed on Hosnian Prime with the rest of his family. Judging from Iz’s expression, he may have been wrong when he told her that.

“Pip?” He couldn’t seem to get anything else out of his mouth.

She pulled away from him a bit, wiping her eyes, “I’m sorry… I guess… You wouldn’t recognize me…”

His mouth hung open, like he didn’t really believe what was happening. “ _Pip_?”

She half laughed, half sobbed, “Yes, yes, it’s me!”

His breath seemed short. He slowly sank to the floor, sitting cross legged and looking at her. “You’re… alive?”

She laughed again, hugging him, “Yes, yes I’m alive… I’m so happy… I never actually thought I’d see you again.” Her laughter turned to sobs on his shoulder.

Cerys was barely able to believe this was happening as well. She looked at Iz. His arms were wrapped around the petite girl, his eyes shut tight and face half buried in her long black hair. She could barely see the tears streaming down his face.

She remembered finding out Armitage was her father. Finding out she wasn’t completely alone in the galaxy. Her eyes stung a little and she blinked quickly, looking away from the two of them.

Cohren stood in the hallway, looking terribly confused. It was a fantastic distraction; his expression almost made her laugh. She shook her head, trying to indicate to him that he didn’t need to be concerned.

“I thought… I thought you were on Hosnian Prime when… I thought you…”

The girl shook her head into his shoulder, “They sent me back here, to learn about our home, just a few days before it happened.” She heaved a sob, “Mother was supposed to join me in a few days.”

“Pip… I didn’t know…”

She pushed back from him, wiping her face again, “Don’t do that. You couldn’t have known.” She smiled through her tears, “You found me again! That’s all that matters.”

Iz still looked a little dazed. “You’ve been here? The whole time? I should have come back… years ago…”

The girl sobbed a laugh into his shoulder. “You have a girlfriend Iz…”

He sniffed, his face still hidden in her hair. “Yeah.”

“That’s really weird, Iz.”

“I know.” He squeezed her a little tighter and she squeaked. “You’ll like her, I promise.”

She laughed and wiggled out of his grip, wiping her face, “I’m sorry…” She looked at Cerys with a huge, friendly smile, so much like Iz’s it was undeniable that they must have been related. “This must be so weird for you. I’m Pip, Iz’s… sort of long-lost sister.”

Cerys’s stomach sank when it occurred to her that she now had to find a way to introduce herself to his sister. Not just that she was completely, fully infatuated with the girl’s brother, but that she happened to be the daughter of the man responsible for the loss of their entire family. She bit it back and smiled back, shaking the girl’s hand. “Cerys Mazelle. It’s really, really good to meet you.”

 

 **

 

Pip nibbled on a slice of Cerys’ fresh baked bread. “I can see why my brother likes you.”

Iz laughed. It was so strange, to sit here in his family’s home, sharing food with his sister. The sister he thought had died years ago. It was surreal. “The cooking is only like… half the reason I like her.”

“Has he always been a bottomless pit when it comes to food?” Cerys asked.

“Oh. Yeah. I remember him eating more than our dad when he was a kid.”

They talked late into the evening, until, as they had discussed, Cerys and Cohren disappeared to their ship. The three of them had tried to discuss the matter as discreetly as possible – Pip needed to know who they were. It was disrespectful to her, and to their home, to not tell her. He wasn’t sure how she’d react. He knew his sister – the five year old who had a penchant for biting him when he did something she didn’t like – but she was no longer that little girl. She’d lead most of her life without him. He couldn’t be sure where this all would lie on her moral barometer.

“You were right.” She grinned at him. “I like your girlfriend. She’s funny, she gets so excited about everything.”

He inhaled deeply. “Right… so… Pip… there’s something you need to know.”

She tilted her head. “Hm?”

There was no good way to explain this. No easy way. “So… I met Cerys about two years ago. It was odd,  I took a job with her family, helping them track down a family friend who happened to be a Force user. It was on a no-name basis…”

“So she couldn’t tell you her name when you first met her? When did you finally find out?”

“She kind of broke the rules and told me early…”

“Aw, that’s so romantic…” She giggled to herself.

He tried to smile. “I… Pip… I don’t know any good way to explain this. I guess… Our parents were always big on empathy, and forgiveness, right?”

She nodded.

“Well… I guess I’m just hoping you can keep that in mind. See… Cerys… she’s the daughter of Armitage Hux. The First Order general that ordered the firing of the weapon that…” He trailed off, not quite able to finish. He searched her face, hoping to find some hint of understanding.

Her eyebrows pinched together. She looked out to their ship, and back to him. “Really?”

“Cohren also happens to be the son of a high-ranking ex-First Order officer. I didn’t know about Cerys until after I’d… sort of fallen for her, I guess.”

“Oh.” She chewed on her lip, then leaned forward on the table, resting her chin on her hand. “Well that’s very romantic, isn’t it? You’re like the example that love conquers all…” She grinned at him.

He tried not to let his breath out too loudly. “Ah… I’m so, so glad you think that.”

She shook her head. “What sort of a person would I be to judge her for her father’s actions? Our own grandfather was a pretty nasty man.”

He nodded, happy to have dodged the issue. “There’s more though.”

“Oh?”

“Her father… Hux…” He swallowed. “I know they say he’s dead, but…”

Her smile dropped.

He shook his head. “Look, Pip… This is so strange. Trust me, I know. I’ve spent nights awake, thinking about it. I still have trouble fathoming it.”

“He’s alive?”

“He is.”

“And she knows him?”

“Yes… Pip, I know him. He was on the job I took, when I met her. I don’t know how to explain this, Pip. He’s not… he’s not what you would expect. I didn’t have names, so I had no idea who he was for a few weeks. I… I ate with the man. I talked with him. And… I wanted to kill him when I found out who he was, but I’d seen him in such personal circumstances, protecting his daughter… I couldn’t do it.”

She was quiet for a few moments, frowning at him. Her voice cracked when she spoke, “D… do you expect me to… to forgive him?”

He shook his head. “No. I don’t. I haven’t forgiven him. I can’t. But… it’s only fair that you should know. I hope… I trust… that you won’t tell anyone? Cerys is in a tough situation…”

She blinked quickly, looking away from him. “I can see why. I understand. I wouldn’t say anything.”

“Thank you. Thank you, Pip… you have no idea how happy I am…”

She stood quickly, walking from the table.

“Er… wait… please don’t…”

She glanced back to him, smiling. Her eyes were a little wet. “I was going to go get them from your ship. They don’t have any reason to hide out there.”

 

**

 

Two weeks later, they sat on the dock with her, watching the stars over the water and chatting. Cerys was happy for Iz. He’d spent most of the past two weeks catching up with his sister and fixing up the home. They’d all grown close to her in that time. She was a lot like Iz – easy to love.

Pip looked back to her childhood home, completely opened up with lights on and no more dust. “I’m so happy you all wanted to get the house open again. I come to visit it every few weeks, but I’ve never really been able to bring myself to… to give it life again.” She smiled at them. “Thank you.”

“I think it was the least we could do.” Cohren said.

The girl looked uncomfortable. “Where are you going next on your trip?”

Cerys glanced to Iz. A little smile twitched on his lips. The three of them had discussed this the evening prior.

“We were planning on stopping by Durune, it’s about five days from here. I spent some time there after I left the training mom and dad sent me to. I have a good friend I'm hoping is still there, I'd love to catch up with him.”

She gave a weak smile. “Oh. When are you leaving?”

“We're going to leave in a few days, but...” he poked her shoulder, “We were thinking you might want to join us.”

Her mouth hung open for a moment. “Really?”

He laughed. “Yeah, yeah we’ve got a few spare rooms, we can certainly fit you. I know you don’t have much going on here… If you’d like to come along, we’d love to have you.” He paused. “I would like it if you came along. I sort of… feel like I should have come back here years ago and found you and helped you more…”

She pushed his shoulder, blinking to hide tears. “Don’t say that. Everything’s worked out perfectly… and yes.” She grinned, “Yes, of course I’m coming with you.”


	3. Breaking a Crew // Part 1

According to Iz, Durune was like a second home to him. After he’d walked out on his training, he’d bounced from planet to planet searching for something that made him feel whole again. On Durune, he found friends. While he didn’t stay there for any long period, it had served as a sort of “home base” for him, where he knew enough people that he could always come back and find a couch to sleep on when he needed.

It wasn’t at all what Cerys had expected. It was very densely populated, with these little cluster-cities that stretched up to the skies. Iz had always been outspoken about not liking cities, but he claimed this was the exception. So she bit back her repulsion at the rather dingy looking streets and followed him as he lead her through the neighborhood he’d spent most of his time in, pointing out different landmarks to her with enthusiasm.

“Iz… are you sure we’re okay to be here?” She swore she just saw a rather shady looking man nab something from a woman’s purse.

He waved a hand at her. “Yeah, yeah. Of course. I wouldn’t have brought you here if it were dangerous.”

She wondered what Cohren and Pip would have to say. They’d opted to take the ship and find a station they could dock in for the evening while Iz, clearly too excited to stay aboard the ship, dragged her with him through the streets.

“I wonder if we’ll run into anyone I used to know. There are great places to eat here too, we should pick something up…”

Cerys gave him a nervous smile. She wasn’t sure she trusted any of the food vendors around here to be sanitary.

He led her through a few narrow, somewhat frightening walkways, chattering on about a friend that had lived in this building, and that one, and there used to be a great fish market in that building but it got shut down…

“Oi!” He paused suddenly, waving into the crowd of shady characters before them, “Hey! Sev!” He smiled at Cerys. “I had a feeling I might run into someone…”

A man with feathery dark hair sat on a bench across the street. He looked twice, and then gave a quick nod. She followed after Iz as he made his way over.

The man peered at her over the rim of a pair of dark, round little sunglasses. Something about his eyes – maybe the color, a striking, pale green – made her uncomfortable.

“Sev! How are you doing?”

He bared his teeth – it took Cerys a moment to realize he was grinning. “Ay, what’s up Iz? It’s been awhile. Good to see you back in the neighborhood.”

“I’m here with some friends, just a quick visit.” He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her a little closer. “I should introduce you – Cerys, this is Sev. We spent a good deal of time together back when I was in these parts.”

He quirked an eyebrow behind his shades. “Really Iz? Another redhead? How’d you manage to snag this one?”

Cerys felt like her skin was crawling.

Iz, as always, was happy and oblivious. “So how are you doing? What have you been up to?”

He bobbed her head from side to side, “Oh… you know. A little of this, a little of that. Oh. Hey. Looks like I have to go.” He didn’t stand.

Two police guards stood to their side, looking irritated that Iz was in their way.

“Oh…” Iz stepped back and they grabbed Sev roughly, dragging him toward the door of the building, which she only now noticed was a prison. Very literally, they had to drag him. He was being as uncooperative as she could be.

Sev looked over his shoulder, smirking at them. “Good to see you, Iz.”

Iz waved lamely, “Uh… yeah. You too.”

He tilted his head downward a little, so they could see his eyes behind the lenses, and winked. Cerys told herself it was intended for Iz.

“That was your… friend?” Cerys asked once he’d disappeared into the prison.

“Yeah. Sev’s been my friend for a long time. After I left training, he was like family to me.” He frowned at the station door.

Cerys grabbed his arm and pulled on it. “You said they have good food here, right? Let’s go get something…” She’d risk food poisoning if it meant she and Iz were further away from the strange spectacled man.

 

**

 

As this trip progressed, Cohren was more and more happy he agreed to come along. Cerys and Iz had become the best of friends to him. And Pip – Pip was almost like a little sister to him. A very little sister – she was nearly half his height. He adored her; she was cheery and friendly and to sort of person you always wanted to hug. Even better, her presence clearly meant so, so much to Iz. It was odd – despite not being around each other for nearly a decade, they took to being siblings like they’d known each other the whole time.

It was their first evening on Durune, a planet Iz spent some time on between his training and finding Cerys, and Cerys had food poisoning.

Iz tiptoed out of their room, closing the door softly behind him.

“How’s she doing?” Cohren asked.

“She’ll be okay. She just fell asleep. She’ll be fine in the morning.”

Pip frowned. “Poor Cerys… what did you force her to eat when you two went out earlier?”

Iz grinned sheepishly and glanced back to the door. “Well… let’s not let this ruin our evening. Do you guys want to go for a quick walk?”

He and Pip looked at each other. Cohren shrugged, “If she’s okay alone for awhile, that sounds good to me.”

Iz waved a hand. “It’ll just be a really quick walk…”

 

 

Cohren began to wonder what sort of walk this was when Iz turned into a police station. He glanced to Pip, but she seemed blissfully ignorant of the unusual situation. It was quiet inside the small station. Only one guard was on duty this late, a soft looking middle aged man Cohren was willing to bet wasn’t the person they’d come here to see. He looked surprised to see anyone this time of night.

“Hey.” Iz walked over to the man. “I’m curious… I have a friend who was brought in here earlier today. Taller than me, about my age…”

“Mouthy?”

“Uh… yeah.”

He jerked a finger toward the back room, “Haven’t transferred him yet. You here to see him?”

“Yeah. Please.”

“Go on back. He’s the only one back there.”

Iz gave he and Pip a familiar plastered-on smile -- he was nervous. "Come on, guys. You should meet my friend Sev. We used to be really good buddies before I met Cerys."

There were four small, barred cells. Three were dark and empty, but one had a light on. A younger man sat inside on the floor, his eyes closed. He had shaggy looking dark hair and was wearing a pair of loosely fitted, soft grey pants and a white shirt. He wasn’t wearing shoes. Cohren wondered if he was possibly arrested while in his pajamas.

“You’re back.” He said as they approached. Cohren couldn’t quite place if it was a question or a statement.

Iz sighed, “Sev… what are you doing in here? You could have easily gotten out by now.”

The man opened his strikingly pale green eyes. “I kind of like it in here.”

Iz looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Look, I’m going to get you out of here, okay?”

“Really? You’re going to talk to that guard and get me out of here? Why would you do that? You just said I could easily get out of here whenever I want.”

Iz was already walking out to the guard. “Sometimes it’s best to not manipulate people.”

The man rolled his eyes and looked up at Cohren from the floor. His indifferent gaze traveled down him to about hip level, at which point he finally noticed Pip. He smirked, leaning forward, “Well… you’re adorable. What’s your name?”

Pip smiled at him. She was a bit naïve at times. It’d been a source of distress for him, particularly when less desirable characters were smiling at her like Sev was. She was almost a little too innocent. “I’m Pip.”

His smirk cracked into a full grin and he laughed, “You even have a tiny name! How old are you? Twelve?”

“Seventeen.”

He wrinkled his nose, “No… Really? Damn, you’re cute.” He sniffed and looked up at Cohren. “Is she your girl?”

“What? No…”

“No? Really? She’s about the right height for you.”

Pip made a small squeaking noise. Cohren oscillated between offended and embarrassed.

“Well... You’re repulsive.” Was Iz _really_ friends with this guy?

The man laughed, looking at Pip. She was bright pink, covering her mouth with her hand. “Damn, legs, you’re more offended than she is. She thinks it’s funny.”

He glanced back down at Pip and saw that she was, in fact, laughing behind her hand.

He was still slightly mortified by the comment.

Iz returned with the soft looking guard, who appeared a little disgruntled that his evening of doing nothing was interrupted. He grumbled something inaudible and opened the cell door, then left.

The man finally stood from the floor, and ran his hand through his hair, “Well. I suppose this constitutes a… thanks. Or something like that.”

Iz smiled. “Not a problem. Your bail wasn’t much anyway.”

Cohren was floored that Iz actually paid to get this guy out of prison. Especially considering what he’d just said to Iz's sister.

Iz motioned to the two of them, “Sorry, I should introduce everyone. Sev, this is Cohren, a good friend of mine.”

Sev eyed him somewhat suspiciously. “Tall fucker, aren’t you? All leg… like a fucking AT-AT or something.”

Cohren didn’t bother responding.

“And this is Pip…”

Sev’s face lit up when he looked down at her. “Yeah, yeah, she introduced herself earlier… You’re even shorter than I thought…” He laughed and patted her on the head like she was a pet.

Iz smiled. “Pip is my sister.”

“Oh? Really? I thought your whole family was…” He makes an explosive motion with his hands, “On Hosnian Prime?”

Cohren rubbed the bridge of his nose. Iz had a tendency of thinking everyone he met was a friend, but this guy’s behavior was unbelievable.

“Well… yes. They were. Come to find out Pip happened to be off planet, I just didn’t know. It’s a long story. We ran into each other just a few weeks ago when I returned to the planet for a visit.”

“Huh.” He looked down at her, then back to Iz. “You sure about that? She’s way cuter than you.”

Iz laughed. “Well, we should go before that guard gets any grumpier.”

“Where are your shoes?” Pip looked at his bare feet.

“Huh? Oh.” He looked down at them like he’d only just remembered he wasn’t wearing shoes. “I wasn’t wearing any when they brought me in.”

“What were you doing to get arrested when you weren’t wearing shoes?” Cohren asked.

Sev sneered at him, “Well, that’s a personal question, don’t you think?” He took off for the door before any of them.

“I was surprised to see you earlier today,” Iz was blissfully unaware of how rude the man was being.

“Yeah. Yeah me too. It’s been awhile.”

“What have you been up to lately?”

“Hm? Oh. You know. Living life. What about you?”

“We’re on a sort of trip right now, spending another few months checking out a few new places before heading back home.”

The man blew past the guard and threw the front door open, striding out into the cool evening air with no shoes. The street was busy with nightlife. He inhaled deeply, “Ugh. Way better than that cell. Well… Iz. Good to see you again…” He saluted like he was about to turn and leave.

Again, Iz was ignorant of his ill manners. “Where are you staying?”

“Mmm…” His eyes followed an attractive young woman who walked past. He smirked, “Her place, I think.” He turned quickly, “Good to see you, Iz. Thanks for breaking me out.”

Cohren watched, hoping to see the young woman reject him. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way. He quickly had the girl laughing, batting at him playfully as he gave a rather debonair smirk. He wondered what sort of woman would actually be interested in a barefooted, random stranger who walked up to her on the streets.

“Is he _actually_ your friend, Iz?”

Iz watched after Sev, looking a little concerned. “Sev? Yeah. I’ve known him for a long time. I mean, I haven’t seen him in years, but we spent a lot of time together back then. He was the first Force user I met outside of my training.”

Cohren tried not to let his mouth hang open. “That… _That_ guy can use the Force?”

“Huh? Yeah.”

“But doesn’t it take… focus? Discipline?”

Iz smiled and laughed, “I think you’re underestimating him a little bit. I know he comes across pretty rough when you first meet him, but he’s actually a pretty good guy.”

“I think he’s funny.” Pip smiled.

Cohren was a little crushed that she thought he was funny.

“You just have to get to know him.” Iz scratched his jaw, “Really, he’s a great guy.”

“Are you certain about that?”

 

 

“Feeling better?”

Cerys gave him a weak smile. She certainly looked like she was doing better than she was the evening before. “Yeah. Quite a bit better. I think I just needed to sleep it off.” She glanced around for Iz, and lowered her voice. “We need to find a market. I don’t trust the restaurants here. We’re all going to die of food poisoning if we let Iz drag us to these places…”

He laughed. “I think I spotted one last night. We went for a quick walk after you fell asleep.” He paused. “It was really, really strange. Iz took us to meet this old friend of his, but you wouldn’t believe…”

Her face dropped. “Oh. Oh god. Was it that… Sev?”

He leaned forward. “Yeah, yeah. You met him too?”

“Yes, when Iz and I went out earlier. He’s terribly strange, isn’t he?  I’m not fond of him at all. I can’t believe Iz actually thinks of him as a friend. I mean, Iz thinks of everyone as a friend, but he was…” She shook her head. “He was something else.”

Outside, they could hear Pip laughing.

“Damn, Iz, how is this girl related to you? She’s too cute.”

Cerys and Cohren frowned at each other. They went to the door – Sev was standing outside with Iz and Pip. He gave them both a toothy snarl-grin when he saw them. “Hey.”

Iz smiled at them, “Hey, you guys remember Sev, right?”

How could they forget?

“I invited him to hang out with us for awhile.” His smile indicated that he saw absolutely no issue with this. He turned to Sev, “We should show you the ship. Cerys and her family custom built the inside. It looks amazing, they did a really nice job…”

He started inside and Sev followed, grabbing Pip and slinging her over his shoulder.

 

 

“So… Sev. What do you do?” Cerys had an all too obviously fake smile plastered on her face as she sat at the table with them. She wasn’t happy about him being aboard her ship.

Sev sat next to Pip, kicked back with his feet on the table. Cohren was just happy that he was at least wearing shoes. Behind his sunglasses, he squinted at her. He was quiet for a moment. “I see. You’re one of _those_ types…” He looked at Iz. “How long have you been hooking up with her? She’s not what I thought you were into. You know. Career-oriented and whatnot.”

Cerys tried to hide a frown, but she wasn’t quick enough. Sev saw. And he grinned.

Iz kissed her temple, “We’ve been together for about two years now. Granted I was in training for part of it.”

“It’s the hair isn’t it? I mean you kind of have a type, she looks a little like… what was her name? Mora? Nora?”

Cerys shot Iz a very telling look – she didn’t know anything about this. He cleared his throat, waving at Sev, “Nah. That’s not… So anyway, Sev’s actually a really talented artist.”

“Really?” Cerys sounded completely skeptical and a little bored.

“What sort of art?” Cohren asked.

“Eh. Body work, mostly.”

“What does that mean?”

He waved a hand, his palm facing toward himself. “Ink.” Cohren had noticed the man had brightly colored tattoos covering his hands, forearms, and neck. They seemed… random and unplanned. Pretty much what he would have expected.

“Ah. I see.”

“Sev actually did mine.”

Cerys gave Iz a look that echoed exactly what Cohren was thinking – complete disbelief. Iz’s tattoos were intricate… detailed… planned.

“She’s so tiny… Iz, how are you related someone this cute?” Sev had already distracted himself patting Pip’s head. She yipped when he scooped her into a giant hug. “She’s like a tiny, cute version of you. Only she’s smarter. Actually, she’s nothing like you. She’s way better.” He squeezed her hard enough that she squeaked, laughing.

The thing that really struck Cohren as completely unbelievable was how taken Pip seemed with the man. He was blatantly rude to her brother, not to mention the way he acted toward him and Cerys.

 

 

Sev hung around their ship all day, until long after sunset. Cohren and Cerys had politely dismissed themselves to hide on top of the ship. He was unbearable, to say the least.

Iz poked his head through the door, smiling at them. “Hey. Can I come up here with you guys for a few?”

Cerys laughed at him, “You don’t need permission.”

He pulled himself up onto the top with them and sat next to her. He inhaled deeply. “So…”

“We’re set to leave tomorrow, right?” Cerys asked a little too quickly.

“Yeah, actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Cerys’ smile flickered. “Ah… Iz, come on. I don’t think there’s much else for us to see on this planet…”

“That’s actually not what I was going to suggest.” He scratched his chin, smiling nervously. “I want Sev to come with us.”

Her smile completely disappeared.

She must have been at a loss for words. Cohren decided it was time for him to step in. “Iz… look… nothing against the guy but… he’s peculiar. And the ship is very small. I’m not trying to be rude, but… Is that really a good idea?”

“No.” Cerys found her words. “No. Absolutely not. No.”

He held his hands up, “Listen…”

“Iz, I can’t believe you actually let that man mark up your body permanently. He’s a complete lunatic, he’s rude beyond belief… No. Absolutely not. I cannot be in a confined space with him for any period of time.”

He sighed and hung his head. “Look, I know Sev is…”

“Crazy?”

“… _different_. I won’t lie to you, he’s always been a little… tactless. But he’s like a brother to me and…” he looked up at her almost desperately, “… and something’s wrong with him. I don’t know what it is, I can’t put my finger on it, but he needs help. I can’t leave him here.”

She looked back at him for a moment, then shook her head. “No, Iz, don’t do this…”

“Please, just… Just until we get to the next planet, okay? I just need to figure out what it is… how I can help him… then you won’t have to put up with him anymore, okay? Just… please?”

Cohren had a very bad feeling about this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Sev's playlist is up!](https://virgilvirgilvirgil.tumblr.com/post/164424633167/shark-attack-sev) Of the +20 playlists I've made for this entire series, his is one of my favorites!


	4. Breaking a Crew // Part 2

_“What have you done?”_ Cerys stood in front of the open door to the room she’d allowed Sev to stay in, her hand over her mouth and her eyes wide. Inside the room, an entire metal wall had been marked up with a design. Marked up may have been the wrong term, though. The man had somehow managed to find a way to _carve_ the design into the metal.

Sev shrugged. “It looks better now.”

Cerys’ hand dropped from her mouth. “Are you _completely_ oblivious? In your mind, is it actually okay that you just permanently vandalized my family’s ship?”

In all honesty, Cohren was shocked it’d taken a whole day and a half on the ship before tensions boiled over.

Sev looked bored, letting out an exasperated sigh, “Iz… what is up with her? Seriously? You have like… a relationship with her? She’s so uptight…”

“You are a complete jerk. I don’t know why I thought it would be a good idea to allow you to come with us…”

Sev ignored her and continued talking to Iz. “Seriously… there’s a lot of redheads out there. I can help you find a better one than this bitch.”

Iz was trying to keep them both under control, but his expression dropped at Sev’s comment. “Hey. Knock it off. Don’t talk about her like that.”

Sev rolled his eyes. “Come on, man. Look at that. Tell me it doesn’t look completely badass…”

“Whether or not it looks good is completely irrelevant!” Cerys looked like she wanted to throw him out an airlock. “You’ve permanently damaged my property without my permission!”

Sev looked at her quietly for a moment. “It looks better.”

Cerys looked at him, wide-eyed. “Okay. I’m done with you. We’re dropping you off at the next stop. Until then, stay in that room. And don’t destroy anything else.”

“Cerys…” Iz tried to reason with her, but she cut him off, holding up a hand.

“This is non-negotiable. He’s no longer welcome here.” With that, she stormed away to the main area of the ship.

“Whatever you say, princess.” Sev called after her. Her shoulder’s jerked a little in reaction. Sev turned his attention back to Iz. “Really. I’m telling you. Tons of better ones out there.”

Even Iz looked irritated. “Sev, stop. You need to stop…”

“Man, I don’t know what your problem is. You used to be fun. She’s ruining you.”

“Sev.” Iz rarely came across as serious, so when his tone turned grave it caught them all – even Sev – off guard. “Stop this. Now. I’m trying to help you…”

Sev sneered. “Help me? What the fuck do you think I need help with?”

Iz hesitated. “Come on, Sev. You really think I haven’t noticed?”

“Noticed what? I haven’t changed, it’s you…”

“Yes, yes you have. It’s not with you anymore, is it? The Force?”

Sev’s snarl dropped a little and he scratched his mouth. “Fuck off, I can still use it.”

Iz shook his head a little and brought his hand out in front of him. He just barely flicked his fingers and Sev was pushed back from them several inches, nearly falling over.

“Hey! What the hell?”

Iz just looked very sad. “Five years ago you would have seen that coming a mile away. You would have been able to stop me.”

Sev stepped toward him aggressively, snarling, “Are you trying to start something?”

“I’m not going to fight you Sev.” He sighed and turned to go find Cerys. “If you want to talk, let me know.”

Sev still looked like he wanted to fight someone when Iz disappeared. He turned to Cohren. “What the fuck are you still doing standing here?”

Cohren glanced into the room. Admittedly, the design was impressive. They guy did have talent. Not that it excused the behavior. “You seem pretty intent on pushing everyone away.”

“Yeah. It’s not working with you, unfortunately.”

“Iz is a good friend.” He sighed. “He’s also a little… oblivious to certain things.”

“Like the fact that his girlfriend is a complete killjoy? Yeah, I noticed.”

In a swift movement, Cohren stepped toward him and pushed the sunglasses down the bridge of his nose, leaning in to look at his eyes. They were strikingly green – he’d noticed that before. What he hadn’t noticed was the drastically dilated pupils and coppery-colored splotch in the center, radiating outward in thin streaks.

Cohren frowned. “You’re on glace? You must be using pretty often, your eyes are turning.”

Sev shoved him away, pushing the sunglasses back up his nose to cover his eyes. “Hey. Fuck off.”

He wasn’t really expecting to have to deal with this again, especially on this trip. Glace was a spice variant—while not usually fatal, it was highly addictive. Heavy users were generally abrasive, short-tempered, and had issues focusing. He’d started suspecting Sev might have been using just a few hours after being trapped on the ship with him.

Sev tried to push around him, but Cohren put a hand on his chest and pushed him back. “If your eyes are turning like that you have to be using at least once a day. Which means you have it somewhere on this ship.”

He frowned at him. “What the fuck are you, some sort of expert on this shit? This is none of your business…”

He kind of figured the conversation would go like this. He pushed back on Sev’s chest again, shoving him into the room behind him – Cohren’s quarters – and stepped in, sealing off the door quickly. Sev stumbled back, caught off guard, then reared toward Cohren aggressively. “What the fuck?! Get out of my way…”

He tried to push Cohren out of the doorway, but he didn’t budge. “Just go sit down. You’re not going anywhere, alright?”

“Like you could stop me…”

Cohren leered down at him. “Given that Iz says you can’t use the Force anymore, I’m willing to bet I could stop you.”

His height had been something of a curse for most of his life. It’d disqualified him from his dream of being a fighter pilot, left him with countless minor head injuries from running into low-hanging signs and standard-sized doorways, and ensured that he would always have to either own a specially sized bed or sleep in an awkward contorted position to actually fit on the mattress. It was, however, really useful in cases like this. Sev was probably used to being the tallest guy in the room, but he only stood about nose-height to Cohren.

Sev stepped back quickly, scowling at him. “Fine. Fucking… weirdo… What are you going to do? Just keep me in here?”

Cohren grabbed a chair and slid it in front of the door, taking a seat. He pulled his comlink from his pocket and contacted Cerys.

“Cohren? Why are you calling me?”

“Long story. Can you put Iz on?”

“Er… yeah? Is everything okay?”

“Just… put Iz on, okay.”

Iz’s voice came through. “Cohren? What’s up?”

Before he could reply, Sev snatched the device from his hand, “Iz! Help! This crazy giant has me trapped in his room… I don’t know what his intentions are but I’m afraid…”

Cohren snatched it back. Sev made a vulgar hand motion at him.

“Iz, your buddy here has a nasty spice addiction.”

The other end of the line was silent for a moment. “Damn it, Sev…”

“Look, I’ve dealt with this before. You can see it in his eyes – they’re streaked with this sort of coppery color. It’s one of the trademark side-effects of a variety called glace. Unfortunately, if his eyes are turning like that it means he’s using pretty heavily, which means he likely has some stashed somewhere on the ship.”

The other end was silent again. Cerys’ voice came through: “Put him on, I want to talk to this assho…”

She got cut off, he guessed by Iz.

“Yeah, guys, this isn’t going to help our situation right now…”

Iz’s voice came through: “So… I don’t know anything about this Cohren… It seems like you do. What do we need to do to help him?”

“Ah. Ha.” Sev’s voice was completely flat and humorless. “I get it. This is some sort of… intervention…”

He looked at the tattooed man for a moment, then talked to Iz: “Will you guys hold on for just a minute?”

He cut the communication and leaned forward in the seat, toward Sev. “So… here’s the deal. I’ve been through this before. If you want help getting off this stuff, I’m completely willing to help you. But you don’t want that. You still don’t even think you have a problem. They’re going to find your stash, and destroy it. You and I are going to stay here while you go through withdrawal symptoms. When we land on the planet we’re going to, you will leave us. Iz will feel good that he helped you. He deserves that much – he’s a good friend. A better one than I think you deserve. And we’ll leave you there, and you’ll probably relapse in a couple weeks, because you don’t care enough about yourself to stop. Iz won’t know… that’s about the only thing that really matters here.”

Sev didn’t even blink behind the shades, scowling back at him.

He sighed and linked through to Cerys and Iz again: “So here’s what you guys need to do: He’s got a stash somewhere on the ship. I would guess he might have multiple. You guys need to comb the entire ship looking for anything he might have here. The last thing we need is to get caught bringing that shit onto another planet.”

Iz came through: “Right. What exactly are we looking for?”

“It’s a powder, a sort of coppery-metallic color. It’ll most likely be kept in some sort of bag, probably in pretty small amounts.”

“Got it. And you guys?”

“I’ve got him in my quarters. He certainly can’t be let out until you’ve found anything he snuck onto the ship. He’ll start going through withdrawal probably within the next four or five hours. It’ll last around 65-70 hours. So he’ll be right again shortly before we land.”

“Good. Okay. We’ll check in with you guys every couple of hours. If you need anything, just let us know.”

“Thanks. Will do.”

Pip’s voice came through the device: “Can I bring you guys some food?”

He smiled a little. Pip was somehow even more kind-hearted than Iz. He glanced to Sev – he was roughing up his already messy hair, trying to not look effected.

“Thanks, Pip. Honestly, Sev probably won’t be able to keep much down for the next few days. I’ve got water in here; I think we’ll be good for awhile.”

Sev made a disgruntled noise and sat on Cohren’s bed, kicking his feet up onto the mattress.

Cohren cut off the comlink feed and leaned back in his chair. “Will you at least take your shoes off if you’re going to have your feet on my bed?”

Sev sneered at him and took his boots off, and tossed them onto the pillow.

 

 

Six hours in, Sev was off the bed and pacing the floor. His dirty shoes were still on the pillow.

“You should really just let me out of here.”

“We both know that’s not going to happen. They haven’t even found your stuff yet.” He watched him for a moment. “Do you need water?”

“No.” He snapped. “I’m fine.”

“Just nerves so far?”

“Fuck off.”

“Look, you and I are going to be in this room together for awhile, and you’re not going to be feeling very well for most of it. You may as well get comfortable, and try to hate me a little less. I can help you get through this a little easier.”

“Or… you could just let me out of here now, and neither of us would have to suffer.”

Cohren laughed at the threat. “So you _are_ conscious of how terrible you behave…”

“You think my shoes are sitting on your pillow by accident?” He glared at Cohren silently. “How do you know so much about this anyway?”

He shook his head. “That’s none of your business.”

“Just like how all of this is none of yours?” He gestured wildly at nothing.

“No, what you’re doing is my business. You made it my business when you carted that shit onto this ship.”

Sev stopped and turned to him, his arms crossed. “I want out.”

“Are you a child? I already told you no. I’m not going to change my mind.”

He tapped his fingers on his arm. “What would it take?”

“Nothing. There’s absolutely nothing you could do to get me to change my mind. And even if you did, the others would just put you back in here.”

“Nothing?”

“Yes, nothing. How many times do I have to repeat that before you…”

The next thing he knew, Sev was crawling into his lap. He put a hand over Cohren’s mouth. “This is what you’re into right? It’s not my thing but I can play along if that’s what it takes…”

Cohren felt mildly horrified, speaking into Sev’s hand. “What?!”

“Guys. That’s your thing, yeah?”

He pushed Sev’s hand away. “Y… what? How would you know that?”

He tapped his temple. There was a tattoo just inches below it that looked something like a feather. He wondered for a moment if he’d somehow managed to tattoo his own face. He wouldn’t put it past him.

“Force thing. I can read minds.”

Cohren squinted at him. “I’m more inclined to think you noticed me hitting on the attendant at the station before we left Durune…”

Sev frowned a little. “Look, that’s beside the point. What I’m getting at is…”

Cohren laughed. “If you really think you can trade sex for a ticket out of here, you’re sorely mistaken. And disgusting.”

“Come on…”

“Get off me. Please.”

He made an attempt to lean onto Cohren and he pushed him off, onto the floor. “Try to maintain a little dignity, okay? You’re not my type anyway.”

Sev frowned up at him from the floor. “I’m not your type? You have a _type_?”

“Nah, sorry. I prefer when all parties are participating for the sake of enjoying it. Certainly not as a bribe, and certainly not…” he poked Sev’s forehead, “when they’re sweating profusely because they’re going through spice withdrawals.”

Sev made a frustrated noise and crawled onto the bed, laying across it at an odd angle.

“Will you take your shoes off my pillow?”

He only got another vulgar hand motion as a response.

 

 

“Cohren? I think we found it…” Iz’s voice came through the comlink roughly nine hours in. “We had to tear his whole room apart, but we found one.”

“Just one?”

“Yeah.”

“Have you searched any other rooms?”

“Pip and I are going to work on the kitchen. Cerys is taking the cockpit. It’s slow work, we’re being careful.”

“Well, take your time. It’s worth being thorough. I suggest throwing the bag you found out the airlock.”

Sev made a small, miserable noise from the bed.

“Will do. How’s Sev doing?”

“Tell him to go fuck himself.” His voice didn’t sound good. The symptoms were coming in full force.

“He’s getting by.”

“How are you doing?”

“Oh, I’m good.”

“Need anything yet?”

“Nah, I’m okay. Thanks though.”

“You two are so fucking pleasant it makes me sick.”

Cohren cut the comlink off and looked to him, “You sure you don’t want any water?”

“I’m fine.”

This was clearly a lie. His skin was a few shades paler than usual, with a sort of placid appearance.

He frowned a little. “Look… I don’t want you to be miserable.”

“Ha. If that were true, you’d let me out of here.”

“I’m just saying, if there’s some way I can make you more comfortable, let me know.”

Sev glared at him from the bed.

He shrugged. “I don’t enjoy seeing people suffer. I know that’s probably not something you can understand…”

“Ah. Well. Congratulations. You’re officially a good person.”

“Why are you so belligerent? I’m offering to help you.”

“Ha. Right.”

“… But I am. Really. No strings attached.” He held his hands up, “I turned you down for sex a few hours ago, you ought to trust my intentions are good.”

“That just makes me more skeptical of you.”

“What? How? Why?”

“What the fuck are you motivated by? You don’t want sex, you don’t even like me…”

“Maybe it’s just the will to be good? I like seeing people happy. I like seeing them not suffer.”

“HA.”

“And to be fair, I might like you a little more if you didn’t go out of your way to be a jerk.”

“And I might like you a little more if you were upfront with your motivations.”

 

 

At 15 hours, he finally broke and had Pip bring some food. She looked up at him nervously, handing off a pack of rations. Not exactly comparable to Cerys’ cooking, but it wouldn’t spoil if kept on the table in his room. “How is he?”

As if on cue, Sev vomited in the bathroom.

Cohren shrugged. “He’s going to make it.”

Her mouth twisted into a little frown. “I suppose he probably doesn’t want to see anyone right now.”

Cohren shook his head. “This is probably a very bad time.”

“Do you want to switch shifts or something? Iz or I could take your place for a few hours.”

He shook his head. “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’ve dealt with this before, I know how to handle what he’s going through. If I need a break, I’ll let you know. Did you find a cold compress?”

“Oh… yeah.” She handed the package off to him. “If there’s anything at all, let us know. We’ve finished searching the kitchen and cockpit. We’ll do everything else after we all get some sleep. Cerys will have the comlink, don’t be afraid to wake us up.”

He sealed the door once more and threw the rations onto the table, going to the bathroom. Sev was on the floor, kneeling over the toilet and trying to catch his breath.

“I have something that will help a little…”

“Fuck off.”

He ignored him and slapped the cold compress to the back of his neck. He shuttered a little under it.

“See? Told you it would help.” He left him to himself again.

 

 

Cohren didn’t really have an issue resting for a few hours. Sev was so deep into his symptoms and spent most of his time on the bathroom floor – he didn’t have the strength or energy to attempt any escape effort.

When he woke, the room was pleasantly silent.  He half expected to hear Sev puking in the bathroom. Instead, he was lying across the bed, still at an odd angle with his shoes setting on the pillow, asleep. Cohren stood and stretched, taking the opportunity to move around.

He noticed something odd: Sev was lying on his side, curled into a fetal position, gripping the sides of his head. At first he thought it was an odd sleeping position, but he realized fairly quickly he wasn’t actually asleep. His knuckles were turning white with the pressure he was putting against his skull.

“Sev?”

He was breathing oddly, in a shaky, pained manner. These were not normal symptoms from what Cohren had seen before. He walked around the bed to Sev’s other side – his eyes were pinched shut tightly. He was clearly in pain. Cohren prodded his arm gently, “Sev?”

No response.

He grabbed his comlink. “Hey… Cerys? Is Iz there?”

“Yeah. You okay?”

“Yep, just put him on.”

Iz’s voice: “Hey, how’s everything going in there?”

Cohren frowned at Sev. “I don’t know if you’d know anything about this, but does he have a problem with headaches?”

The line was silent for a moment. “Yeah. Is he having one?”

Another piece of the puzzle fell into place. “Yeah, he is. Looks pretty bad, he’s not responding to me. Do you know what he does to help with them?”

“Nothing, as far as I know. He tried a lot of stuff, but nothing’s ever helped.”

Cohren shook his head sadly. “Well, he found something that helped. People take glace specifically for its numbing properties. It helps relieve pain.”

Another silence from Iz. Cohren knew him well enough by now – he was feeling guilty over all this, like he somehow could have made his friend make better choices. It was misplaced on Iz’s behalf, but Cohren respected him for it. He was a good friend.

“I… had no idea…”

“Don’t blame yourself. There’s nothing you could have done. He’s going to make the choices he wants to make, and there’s nothing you could do to change that.”

“Can you make sure he’s comfortable? I had to take care of him through a few of these episodes before… it’ll likely last three or four hours.”

Cohren actually felt a little bad for Sev. “Yeah. Of course.”

When they disconnected, he tugged Sev’s sunglasses off and moved them to the nightstand. He finally gave in and moved the shoes off the pillow, dusted it off, and flipped it over before moving Sev onto it.

He took a seat, and waited.

 

 

It lasted hours. At some point, he wasn’t entirely sure if Sev had passed out, or if he just fell asleep. It was over six hours before the man finally opened his eyes again. He looked exhausted, dazed and bleary. He blinked at Cohren, but Cohren wasn’t sure he was actually able to focus on him. His eyes looked so hazy.

“How are you feeling?”

He groaned and rubbed his forehead, rolling onto his back. “Fucking awful.”

“Is that why you use it? To help with the headaches?”

He inhaled deeply, sighing. “What do you think?”

Cohren was quiet for a few moments. “You know… I was lying earlier? I was mad at you, I said some things I shouldn’t have said…”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“I think you probably could stay away from the stuff – for good.”

“Ha.”

“No… I mean… Look at the patterning you did on Iz’s skin. Or the design you made on the wall. That kind of talent doesn’t come without practice or discipline. If you put your mind to it… I really think you could stop.”

Sev looked at him from the corner of his eyes. “Who was it?”

Cohren ran his fingertips over the arm of his chair absentmindedly. “It was my father.”

“HA.”

He frowned. “You’re really determined to make everyone dislike you, aren’t you?”

“I mean, this whole thing make a lot more sense. Can’t save your old man but maybe you can save me…”

Cohren was quiet for a moment. “I guess that might be part of it. When he was young, he was a trooper for the Empire in its final days. Got injured in an explosion during Rebel attack and spent the rest of his life dealing with pain issues. He chose the same solution you did. I suppose it made it better for him, which was good, but it made it worse for all of us. He was always angry, quick to snap… never really mentally present. I guess he wasn’t really in pain any more, but he was still suffering in some way. He got off it a few times. It never lasted longer than a few weeks. I guess… it just would be nice to see someone actually beat it.”

“It doesn’t work. Did he tell you that?”

“No… No he didn’t.”

“Yeah, that’s what we don’t tell you. It works for the first few months, maybe a little longer if you’re lucky. Then the effect slowly starts to fade and…” He threw his hands up off the bed. “This. We just keep telling you all that it helps because maybe you’ll feel bad for us and get off our backs about the whole damn thing.”

He wondered if Sev even realized how devastating the news was to him. His father went through all that… put his family through all that… for something that didn’t even work. And then lied to them all about it.

“Sorry, it sucks.”

“Yeah. It does. I’m not sure I wanted to know that.”

“Probably not. Sorry.”

“You’re apologizing a lot.”

“Am I?”

“It’s the most polite you’ve been since I met you.”

“HA.”

“You know, you’re almost past the symptoms.”

“Great. Then you let me out of your cave, right?”

He laughed a little. “Yeah. Then I’ll let you out.” He tilted his head. “It’s so strange, we talk like this and I start to think you might actually be an okay person.”

“Well, I don’t want to give you the wrong impression.”

“Did you do all your own tattoos?”

“Huh? Yeah. Well, I drew them. Someone else had to do this,” he motioned to his neck and chest. “But the arms are all me. And the legs.”

“And you did all of Iz’s?”

“Yeah. He was the only person stupid enough to want something like that.” He grinned.

 

 

It was sort of remarkable to Cohren how his opinion of Sev slowly started to shift over the next two days. The symptoms became less and less intense, and Sev became very nearly tolerable. It took him awhile to realize it – Sev wasn’t really a bad guy, just like Iz insisted.

He was not well mannered, by any means whatsoever. But he was sort of funny in a very blunt, uncensored way. And he meant well. He couldn’t bring himself to say it, but he clearly really valued his friendship with Iz. He even admitted to Cohren that the only reason he’d agreed to come along was because he hadn’t seen Iz in a few years and wanted to catch up with him terribly.

Cohren got the sense that he really didn’t mean to be so abrasive. He just didn’t know how to conduct himself any differently. There was pain there – he’d buried it somewhere deep, under layers of vulgarity and snide remarks. He wondered what it was, but Sev maneuvered out of any conversation that approached it.

As the third day drew to a close, Sev became livelier. He sat on the edge of the bed, talking with Cohren.

“Are you sick of sleeping in that chair?”

He laughed. “Honestly, yeah. How are you feeling? You look a lot better.”

He shrugged, looking away. “Better. I guess. My hands are still a little shaky, but I don’t feel like I want to die.”

Cohren nodded slowly. “They found the second bag yesterday. I think if you feel well enough, you can leave.”

“Ha. You’re bored of having me as your captive?”

He smiled a little. “Mostly I just want my bed back.”

Sev looked away from him, messing up his hair again. “Can I use your shower?”

“Yeah. Go for it.”

While Sev was showering, he gathered the bed sheets from the bed and tidied everything up. He took an excessively long time in the washroom; Cohren tried not to think about it.

When he finally came out, he wasn’t wearing a shirt, with his towel slung around his neck. Cohren was surprised to see none of the rest of his body was tattooed. “You only have them where everyone can see them?”

Sev looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Yeah? Why would I put them somewhere people can’t see?”

Cohren was about to retort, but realized it actually made a good deal of sense, from Sev’s perspective.

“Whatever.” Sev grabbed his shirt from the table where Cohren had folded it and went back into the washroom. When he turned, Cohren could see a massive scar running up the length of his spine. He opened his mouth to ask, and then closed it. Maybe this was another piece of the puzzle, but Sev wasn’t about to talk about it.

He returned a few moments later with his shirt on, his usually messy hair pushed back like he’d almost tried to fix it. He looked at Cohren. Cohren looked back at him.

“Will you sit?”

“Why?” Cohren asked.

Sev looked irritated, sliding his sunglasses back onto his nose. “Because… I fucking asked nicely, that’s why. Just sit.”

“… Okay?” He sat on the edge of the stripped bed.

Sev stepped toward him, making an odd gesture. “I’m not really into this sort of thing. But I don’t really blame you for locking me in here for three days. And it’s kind of… _nice_ … that you stayed in here with me the whole time.”

“Are you trying to say you’re sorry? And thank me?”

“Yeah. I guess. Something like that.”

He laughed a little. It made perfect sense that Sev wouldn’t be used to – or comfortable with – either of those concepts. “You could try actually using those words.”

Sev just looked at him, frowning. “Right.”

It wasn’t going to happen. Close enough though. “Did I really need to sit for this?”

“No.” Sev took another step toward him and leaned in, kissing him lightly. He stood straight. “Well. There. I guess that wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be.”

Cohren was caught a little off guard. He nearly laughed. “I think you’re under the mistaken impression that because I’m interested in men, I’m interested in you.”

Sev patted him on the head, almost like he did with Pip, but just rough enough to mess up his hair. “Don’t kid yourself.”

With that, he turned and left through the door Cohren had spent the past three days blocking.

Cohren wasn’t kidding himself. Sev might have been though.

From the end of the hallway, he could hear Sev yell: “PIP! WHERE ARE YOU?”

He laughed a little and made his way to the washroom for his own shower. He closed the door and peeled off his clothing, pausing before he stepped into the shower. The entire inside of the shower was covered in a black, intricately lined pattern.

No wonder Sev had taken so long in the shower. He must have found a pen or a marker somewhere.

Cerys would be pissed, but he took a moment to admire it. It was really beautiful. He’d hide it from Cerys until Sev was long gone.

When he stepped inside and turned the water on, and the pattern began to run. He felt an odd mix of relief and loss as he watched it disappear, washing down the drain.


	5. Breaking a Crew // Part 3

“I guess he’s not completely intolerable anymore.” Cerys said reluctantly, watching Sev from the cockpit with Cohren. She nodded up to him. “You’re a good person. I can’t imagine having been locked in a room with him for that long.”

“He’s not as bad as you’d think.”

She raised an eyebrow at him.

He laughed. “I’m not kidding you. I think I actually learned to like him a little. He’s a decent guy, has a great sense of humor.”

“Does he?” She sounded nearly disgusted.

He shook his head, “You just have to give him a chance.”

From the hull: _“Holy shit! This is the whiskey stash from heaven!”_

Cerys rubbed her face. “Oh. Oh no. He found my dad’s collection…”

_“What the hell Iz? You still don’t drink? Pip?”_

“I feel like Hux probably would have removed anything he didn’t want anyone else touching, right?”

_“Seriously Iz, your little sister is way too awesome to be related to you. She even drinks whiskey. What do you want? A glass of water? Juice?”_

“I certainly hope so; I can’t imagine any of us would have any luck stopping him.”

“You should give him another shot, Cerys. Really, he’s okay.”

_“Cohren! Come drink whiskey with me and Pip!”_

He laughed and stood to go join them. “Come on; just try talking to him for a little bit. He’s different. Not much, but a little.”

 

 

Cerys and Iz got bored of watching the three of them drink and dismissed themselves to go to bed. Pip hung in like a champ, until she fell asleep sitting on the bench next to Sev. Pip was something a little bit remarkable – she was so loveable that even Sev was careful around her; he gently picked her up and carted her off to her room.

“Cerys admitted you’re easier to get along with.” Cohren said to him when he returned.

“Eh.” Sev refilled his glass, and Cohren’s. “Whatever. She’s too damn uptight.”

Cohren wondered what his reaction would be if he knew Cerys was the daughter of Armitage Hux. For obvious reasons, that information hadn’t been given to him.

“So… I’m confused. I’m not your _type_?”

Cohren laughed. “Maybe you don’t understand because you don’t have a type.”

“No, I have a type. But I am never not someone’s type. That doesn’t happen.”

Admittedly, Sev was very good looking. He probably didn’t get turned down often. “I’m willing to bet really good money you’re not Cerys’ type.”

“HA.” He was a little too loud for a ship of sleeping people. “That’s different.”

“Is it?” He laughed to himself. “What is your type then?”

“Female. Shorter than me.”

Cohren couldn’t tell if he was serious or sarcastic. “That leaves a pretty big pool.”

“Well… not as short as Pip. I mean, damn, I love the girl but I’d just… break her.”

Cohren tried to hide a laugh. “That’s gross.”

“Eh… she’s a good kid.  She’ll…” He trailed off, shaking his head. Cohren wondered what he meant to say. “You know, you’re a lot more fun to talk to when you’re drinking.”

“Do you suppose that’s because I’m drinking, or because you are?”

He nodded a little. “Probably both.” He fell quiet for a moment, running his fingertips over the edge of his glass. “So. I’ve been thinking…”

“Hm?”

“I have a type, okay. Leggy blondes. Generally of the female variety but…”

Not this again.

“… but that kiss really wasn’t as bad as I thought, so I was thinking maybe…”

“Sev.” He laughed, shaking his head. “You’re not in a good head space to make decisions like that now.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“That means you just came off three full days of suffering and I was the only person there to help you a little. You’re projecting, or something like that.”

“… And?”

“And I’d rather not see you do something you’d regret later.”

He squinted at Cohren behind his sunglasses, scratching his nose. “I have literally _never_ regretted anything I’ve done.”

Cohren hesitated. That actually made a terrible amount of sense coming from Sev.

Before he could retort, Sev launched himself at him, kissing him again. “Come on… just… let me... they’re kicking me off tomorrow anyway, so you won’t have to think about it ever again.”

He _was_ really attractive. The unkempt hair and tattoos really weren’t his thing, but it somehow worked on Sev, probably because it matched his give-no-fucks attitude. And he was talented, that was defiantly attractive. Maybe he kind of was Cohren’s type. Or at least a type he’d like to try out once.

He shifted, sliding Sev off his lap and moving to a higher position, so he was over him. Sev grunted something, “… tall…”

He laughed a little and ran his thumb over the feathered design that ran along his jaw line and curved up around his ear. “You don’t like that?”

“Mmph… it’s just different.”

“You’ll get used to it.” He kissed along the feathered design, nipping and biting as he went. 

Sev twitched, huffing a little breath. “Yeah... I think so.”

 

 

Pip looked so sad as they landed the ship in the metropolitan city they were visiting on the next planet. Sev had been hulled up in his room most of the morning, leaving the four of them to talk among each other.

“Guys… we can’t just leave him here.” Her eyes were huge, pleading. “This isn’t his home. What is he going to do?”

“As far as I understand, he’d be no better off on Durune. It sounds like he didn’t have any place to stay there either. Right, Iz?” Cerys looked at him.

“That doesn’t mean it’s okay to just leave him.” She looked between the three of them. “Can’t we do something?”

“Do I need to remind you that he brought an illegal substance onto my family’s ship? If we’d been caught with that on here all four of us would be in massive trouble.” She shrugged. “Not to mention what he did to the wall. Look, I’m all for second chances but not when his behavior could land us all in prison.”

The two looked at each other for a moment. Cerys finally gave in a sighed. “Am I alone here? What do the two of you think?”

Iz scratched his chin. “Look… of course I want to help him as much as I can. But,” he glanced to Cerys, “I already asked a lot of you to bring him this far. If you don’t want him on your family’s ship, I have to honor that.”

“Thank you.” She looked at Cohren. “And you?”

He and Sev hadn’t really done much the night before. Nothing explicit at least. It was just a lot of kissing and biting and touching. It’d been fun, for both of them. Sev was fun, he had a good sense of humor and was curious and open to try anything, but what had happened the night before was exactly what it was – a good time for both of them, something brief and fleeting and enjoyable.

“I’m with Iz, I think it’s only fair if we let you decide this one Cerys.”

She frowned a little. Pip was still looking at her with big, pleading eyes. Cohren was beginning to think she sort of thought of him as a pet, something she could protect and take care of. Which was funny, because Sev was the one who always carried her around and patted her on the head.

Cerys chewed on her lip, thinking. “Okay. Let’s give him a day. He can stick around the ship for the next day here. If he acts out again, he’s out. If he manages to behave himself then we can discuss other options. Is that fair?”

Pip yipped, smiling widely. “Yes, I think that’s very fair.” She laughed. “Thank you!”

Iz wrapped an arm around her waist, tugging her closer and kissing her temple, mumbling something to her quietly.

Cerys looked like she’d already made a huge mistake.

 

 

Miraculously, it actually worked. Sev somehow managed to behave himself through most of the day. He seemed cautious about the invitation to stay around them all day, and spent most of the day with Pip. He went with her to a marketplace around midday to help her get food – Cerys was planning on making them all a dinner.

In the evening, she started making food. Cohren helped her out where he could, while Iz and Pip and Sev chatted in the main room of the ship.

Cohren hesitated. “You have to admit – he’s been good today.”

She bobbed her head a little. “I’m utterly shocked, but yes, he has been.” She paused. “I think you did a very good thing for him, Cohren.”

“Eh. It was nothing.”

“No.” She laughed, lowering her voice. “You locked yourself in a room with him for three days. That’s heroic, if you ask me.”

“So… what are you thinking?” He asked, shrugging. “About letting him stay?”

Her mouth twisted downward a little. “I think the four of us need to have a discussion.”

She moved the dish she was working on (whatever it was… he could never identify these things until he was eating them) into the oven and they went out to the others. Pip and Iz were talking, Sev was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’d he go?” Cerys asked.

“Went back to his room awhile ago.” Iz smiled at her. Cohren could tell it bugged Cerys that she referred to it as _his_ room.

She inhaled deeply, moving into a seat next to him. “So… I think we all need to have a discussion.”

Pip’s face lit up. “He’s been good, right? We can keep him?”

Cerys looked like she was about to get sick. “I’m cautiously saying yes. I don’t trust him. I think all four of us need to keep an eye on him, very closely. But he’s been… acceptable today.”

Pip clapped her hands, “Yay! Oh, can I ask him to stay? He won’t say no if I ask him.”

Cerys sighed, looking defeated. “Yeah… why don’t you go get him, Pip? The food’s about ready anyway.”

He could hear Pip knock on his door, then start chattering away at Sev when he opened it. Cerys rubbed her forehead. “I really hope I don’t regret this. Will you guys _please_ help me keep an eye on him?”

“For sure.” Iz kissed her temple. “Thank you.”

She shook her head and stood from the table, making her way back to the kitchen to get the food ready for serving.

Pip and Sev were taking awhile – he and Iz went to the hallway to check on them. Sev was sitting on the floor with his legs crossed, looking at her with a toothy grin and patting her head. “Pip Pip Pip…”

Pip looked confused.

He noticed them and stood, inching along the wall, looking away from them like that would somehow keep him hidden.

Cohren’s stomach sank. “Really?” He stepped in front of Sev to block him from going anywhere. He made a spastic movement in a lame attempt to escape, but Cohren put a hand on his chest and pushed him back into the wall, pushing the tinted glasses down his nose again.

Sev looked away from him, but Cohren could still see – his eyes were dilated again, and the coppery parts were returning. He couldn’t help an exasperated breath, “Really, Sev? It hasn’t even been 48 hours? You couldn’t have…”

Sev pushed him away, “Hey… don’t touch me…”

Cohren pushed him back. “ _Really?_ Come on, Sev… You’re already back on that shit? We’ve only been here for 9 hours. Did you even try to avoid it?”

He made a growling noise, trying to push Cohren away.

“You can’t even look at me.” Cohren shoved him back into the wall again. “Look at me. Did you even try?”

Sev snapped, shoving him back. “Fuck off. What do you care anyway?”

The question made his head spin. For some reason, his chest hurt. “You think… You think I don’t… care? I spent three days locked in a room with you listening to you vomit your insides out. You really think I don’t _care?”_

But then, why did he care? Clearly Sev didn’t.

He wanted to shove him back into the wall again, harder this time. Like maybe he could knock some sense into him. But that would be useless. He stepped back, shaking his head and turning to his room.

“I’m done with you.”

 

**

 

Cohren’s door slid shut after the emotional explosion, leaving he and Pip looking at Sev, who looked like he wanted to fight someone. He glared at Cohren’s door for a few moments, and then took off for the exit.

“Sev…”

“Fuck off, Iz.” And with that, he was gone from their ship.

He wasn’t expecting Sev to fall back so quickly. Cohren had explained to him that relapsing was extremely common, but he really thought his friend would have lasted at least little longer.

Cerys apparently overheard the whole confrontation; she came down the hallway slowly. He was expecting her to mention she knew this would happen, but she actually looked concerned. She looked at Cohren’s door. “That was… I wasn’t expecting Cohren to be so…”

That had been a surprise to Iz as well. He’d started to think Sev was growing on Cohren a bit, but Cohren’s outburst indicated he’d taken to liking Sev more than he let on. He supposed it made sense; they’d spent three days together in Cohren’s room. They must have bonded a little in that time.

Iz let out a sigh, rubbing his forehead. How should he deal with this? “I need to go find Sev.”

Cerys looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

He shook his head. “I know, I know. I won’t bring him back here. But even if he’s a jerk, he’s my friend. I’m worried about him. Stay here, see if Cohren wants to talk. I’ll be back in a few hours.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final two chapters will be posted tomorrow! This one is short and sweet -- building to something big!


	6. Rebuilding a Crew

Iz found Sev on the top of the tallest building in the area. He’d always had a penchant for climbing tall things; it was the first place Iz thought to look. He was laying on his back, his forearms crossed over his eyes.

“Sev?”

He huffed an irritated noise. “What do you want?”

He sat next to his friend. “I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

“HA.”

“I guess that is pretty stupid.”

“Yep.”

Iz decided to not talk for a little bit. He just sat there with his friend, looking up at the stars. It took some time, but Sev finally sat upright, glaring at him. “So… you going to hang out here all night or are you going away now?”

“I’m going to stay here until you talk to me.”

Sev somehow had a method of conveying a massive amount of sarcasm without saying any words. His expression just radiated it.

“Cohren’s pretty upset.”

“Yeah, I don’t know what his problem is…”

Iz sighed. “Sev… I don’t know why you didn’t come to me for help.”

“HA. What the hell do you think you could have done for me?”

“I don’t know… anything? Do you still not get that? You’re like a brother to me, all you had to do was…”

“Oh please, fuck off with that bullshit. You’re off flitting around with that killjoy princess of yours…”

“Do you like being like this?”

Sev’s jaw snapped shut. He glared at him from behind the tinted lenses. He even wore them when it was dark out. It was the only thing he’d ever found that helped a little with the headaches. Well… other than this demon he was fighting now.

“What the fuck do you think, Iz? I can’t even…” He trailed off making a Force push motion with his hand. “I can’t even feel it any more, much less use it. It’s like… like fucking losing your sight or something. I can’t even function.”

Iz’s chest hurt for his friend. The others would probably be surprised to know, but Sev had actually been reasonably strong with the Force when Iz met him. For most of his life, it was the only thing he’d had. He was close to it, surrounded by it. He’d taught Iz a great deal of things. Even more remarkable, Sev had no formal training whatsoever. Everything he’d known about it he’d discovered on his own.

It was like seeing a great musician lose their hearing, or a great artist lose their sight. On one level, everyone suffered the loss of someone with the ability to make something great. On a much deeper level, Sev was suffering the loss of something that was more precious to him than anything he’d ever known.

Sev made a violent swiping motion at nothing. “Whatever. This is pointless. Go back to your ship and your killjoy and your Pip and…”

“Sev, you’re an asshole.”

Sev looked at him for a moment. “Did you just figure that out?”

He sighed. “You’ve been blatantly rude to Cerys ever since you met her, you’ve snuck illegal substances onto our ship, you vandalized our ship, you nearly started a fist fight with Cohren…”

“Are you forgetting anything?”

“But do you want to know the absolute worst thing you’ve done?”

“Enlighten me. I don’t feel shitty enough yet.”

“After five years of friendship, after I’ve told you you’re like a brother to me, you honestly think I don’t care. You’ve convinced yourself that I won’t help you before you’ve even asked for help.” He shook his head. “You don’t get it Sev. I’d do _anything_ to help you. If it meant I had to stay here with you to help you through this while the other three went on more adventures, I’d do it.”

Sev didn’t respond, he just looked at him suspiciously from behind the shades.

“You’re always suspicious that people have these seedy alternate motives they’re hiding from you.  I swear: it’s just that you’re my friend. My best friend. I want to help you. Please. Let me.” He paused. “And if I can be honest, Pip and Cohren feel the same way.  Cerys… not so much, I think you burned that bridge before it could even be built. But Pip adores you, she’d be happy to do anything to help you out. And Cohren… Well, you’ve upset him quite a bit. I think he’d still help you, but you owe him an apology.”

Sev was looking away from him, playing with his lips.

“Honestly, I wasn’t expecting Cohren to be as hurt as he is. I don’t know what happened between you two while you were locked in that room for three days…”

“What? Nothing happened.”

“Clearly he’s grown to think of you as a friend. He’s a very even-tempered person, for him to get angry enough to yell at you over this… he’s hurt.”

Sev was quiet for a moment. “His dad was on the same stuff. Same reason… pain issues…”

“He told you that?”

“Yeah.”

Iz hadn’t known that. He wasn’t even sure Cohren had ever told it to Cerys. “That’s… a really personal thing for him to admit to you.”

“Yep. I could tell.”

“Did you tell him _why_   you get the headaches?”

“Nah. That’s not… He doesn’t need to know that.”

Iz sighed and leaned back on his hands, looking back up to the stars. “Honestly Sev, I think that might be a good way to let him know you’re sorry.”

 

**

 

Cohren watched the water run over the wall of the shower, vaguely wishing the design Sev had drawn on it hadn't washed down the drain. Cerys would have had a conniption over it, but it really did look neat.

He sighed and scrubbed at his hair, trying to forget. He  was lying to himself -- he didn’t really want the design sitting there for him to look at and dwell on. Sev was gone; he’d stormed off the ship four days ago without telling anyone where he was going and completely disappeared from their radar. Good riddance. They guy was more trouble than he was worth. Cohren didn’t want to think about it anymore.

He got out of the shower and dried himself. After the incident with Sev, everyone had sort of gone their own way for a few days. Cerys spent some time around him, but he found himself wandering off into the city on his own most days. He just wanted some time to think. Or some time to forget. He wasn’t sure which one it was. He just needed to be alone. Iz and Pip were having some brother-sister bonding time and spent a good deal of the days off the ship, away from he and Cerys.

Today would be different though. Things were finally getting back on track. They were all going to go to a monument – an old temple that sat on the outskirts of the city, next to a river. It would be a good time, and the gang would be back together and they’d move forward from this whole mess. He pulled his briefs on and went to find his clothing.

Sev walked through the door of his quarters.

“Er…”

His arms were stacked full of papers.

“Sev?”

He plopped the paper tower onto the small tabletop, “Look, I have some stuff I need to…”

“Sev? What are you doing here?”

Sev blinked at him. “I have a thing I need to talk to you about.”

“Okay… does Cerys know you’re on the ship?” She’d be livid.

“Yeah.”

“Are you lying?”

He waved the question away, “That’s beside the point… Let me talk.”

Cohren sort off wanted to throw him out. “Right… can I put pants on first?”

“Huh?” Sev looked at him like he’d just noticed. “Oh. Yeah.”

“Yeah. Thanks. Did nobody ever teach you to knock on the door before you enter someone’s personal quarters?” He tracked down a pair of black pants and pulled them on.

“No.”

“I can tell. What is it you need to talk to me about? What’s with the papers?”

Sev scratched his head, messing his hair up more. “Listen. Just… hear me out, okay? Iz said I should do this. I think it’s a bad idea, but I’m going to give it a try anyway. He’s good about these things, I think. Better than me.”

“Sev… seriously, what are you doing here? There’s no way Cerys wants you on this ship, just get to your point quickly…”

“I’m trying to explain, okay?” He motioned to the stack of papers that teetered precariously on the table next to him. “These are my medical records.”

Cohren looked at him for a moment. “And you printed them off? On _paper?"_

“Yeah, look…”

“Could you not have found a datapad to display the information?”

“No. I didn’t have one, so this is what I did. Just deal with it. The point is, the information is here…”

“Do you expect me to read through all that?” Sitting on the table, the stack was nearly up to Sev’s shoulder.

He pushed his mess of hair back. “No. Not all of it. Iz told me I should explain…”

The stack finally gave and tipped over, sending papers flying all over the floor. Sev looked frustrated. Cohren looked down at the papers littered around his feet. He sighed. “Sev. I get it, you get these headaches, you were trying to find something to help with it. I understand that. I don’t really think it’s an excuse…”

“I’m not _trying_ to make excuses, I’m trying to explain to you why I am the way I am. Okay?” Cohren glanced to him. He was scowling, looking supremely irritated. The tips of his ears were red.

He shook his head and started gathering the papers from the floor. “You’re a mess, you know?”

“Yeah.  Yeah, trust me, I know.”

He started stacking up the papers when one – with a photograph – caught his eye. It was a young boy, maybe 6 or 7 years old, very thin and frail looking with a shaved head and big, frighteningly familiar green eyes. He paused a little, picking it up slowly. There was a second photo on the page as well, of the boy turned away from the camera, a massive, fresh looking scar running up his spine.

“This is you?”

“Hm? Yeah. Yep.” He seemed nervous. “Um…”

He set it to the side carefully and looked through the other papers in his hand. Each of them was labeled at the top: _Project Line Revival._

His stomach knotted up. He was familiar with the project – it was so notorious when the whole operation had been busted over a decade ago news made it all the way to the First Order. In the destruction of the Empire, the Order wasn’t the only sect to form of its remnants. There was another, a group that operated more as a collective of scientific minds that referred to themselves as Grey Matter. They’d worked to carry out the Empire’s scientific and technological visions, focusing mostly on experimentation rather than actionable results, like the Order had.

Their downfall came when they were caught by the New Republic, kidnapping children for the purposes of what they called “Project Line Revival”. From what Cohren had heard, it was an attempt to re-awaken Force sensitivity in individuals who had distant ancestors who were Force sensitive. They’d gone about this by putting the subjects through “extreme physical distress”.

“I didn’t know there were any survivors from this.”

“Yeah. Well. There was one.”

He glanced to Sev. “Only one?”

“Yep. Only one.”

The paper in his hands looked like a copy of one of their official daily reports:

> _Patient #7 continues to exhibit no progress, despite progressively increased attempts. A spinal clamp modified with a nerve disruptor is suggested to potentially expedite the process…_

Cohren’s head spun. He looked away from the paper. “Seven?”

“It’s Sev.” He shook his head. “Don’t call me that. I don’t like it.”

“I had no idea.”

“It’s not something that would be easy to guess.”

“The scar on your back…”

“It was from this thing they put on me... sort of like a cybernetic spine. It hooked directly into my nervous system… They think it caused some sort of damage that causes the headaches now.”

He slid the few papers he’d picked up back onto the table. The one with the pictures of him – that he couldn’t look away from. “What happened? After you were rescued. Did they find out where you were from?”

“Nah.”

“Where did you go?”

He shrugged. “I spent a couple years in medical facilities. Then they tried to transfer me to a home for kids like me… unfortunate cases or whatever society thought I was. I hated it, so I left.”

“You can’t remember where you were from?”

He looked at the stack of papers. “They think they had me from when I was a baby. Nobody’s really sure.”

“They must have never made it public knowledge that there was a survivor because... because it worked.” He could imagine, that sort of knowledge floating around out there could be disastrous.

Sev huffed, scowling deeply. “I mean… whatever. It’s all a bunch of lies. Who says it actually worked? Maybe I was going to be Force sensitive anyway? Nobody fucking knows. The whole thing was probably a waste.”

Cohren looked at him.  He hadn’t considered that. Maybe Sev was right. Maybe it was all a waste.

He couldn’t imagine anything so bleak.

“Sev… I’m so sorry…”

He crossed his arms. “Yeah. Well, now you know. Hopefully it all makes more sense now.”

“It does. Thank you for telling me.” He knelt down to pick up another photo. It was a group of people, presumably scientists as they all wore lab coats. His eye was drawn to it by one of the individuals. A man stood off to the left -- he appeared to be in his late 30's. He looked so much like Sev... there was absolutely no way they weren't related. "Is this..."

Sev snatched the paper from his hand and balled it up, tossing it across the room into a waste bin. "That's not important."

Cohren didn't know what to say. He resorted to repeating himself. "I'm sorry."

Sev looked away from him. “Iz helped me... again. After you did. That’s probably why he’s been missing around here for a few days. Pip too.”

He nodded slowly. “That makes sense.”

A dense silence fell over them.

“Are you done for good this time?”

Sev tapped his fingers on his forearm nervously. “Yeah.”


	7. Homecoming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading! There's a preview of the next story, _Harkbacker_ , in the footer! You can expect the first chapter on the 2nd Thursday of September!

“Can you believe Sev’s been with us for two whole months now? Kind of hard to believe, huh?” Iz smiled at Cerys as they walked back to the ship with Pip. They’d spent the day exploring this beautiful mountainous planet they were visiting – one of the last scheduled stops on their trip before returning home.

They’d spent yesterday exploring as well, hiking the mountains and cooling off in a cool, clear blue lake they’d found. Cohren claimed to be exhausted from the hike and the sunshine and had wanted to remain at the ship for the morning. Sev hadn’t even left his room yet – some days he spent half the day sleeping. They let him do what he pleased. He never really cared if they left the ship without him while he slept in.

“I mean… he’s tolerable now.” Cerys frowned a little. “He hasn’t vandalized anything else, so as long as he keeps that up…”

“He’s happy, can’t you tell?” Pip smiled up at them. “He’s changed quite a bit. He’s happier, calmer, more focused…”

“He can use the Force again.” Iz felt like his smile might split his face in two. He was so incredibly happy for his friend. “I’ve been working with him on it, he’s getting it back really quickly.”

They made their way onto the ship. “I think we should make something over a fire pit tonight.” Cerys said. “Does that sound good to you guys?”

“Uh… yes. For sure.” Iz laughed.

She headed off to the hallway of bedrooms to change out of her hiking gear. “Good, I’ll check the kitchen to see if we have anything I can make work. I think there was a market in that little town we saw. We might have to go there…” She paused mid sentence, with a terrified gasp that made Iz freeze in his tracks. Her voice came from the hallway in a forced hush, “ _Iz_ …”

They both hurried to her. She stood with wide, horrified eyes, pointing at Cohren’s door. _“When did this happen?”_

Cohren’s door was sitting open. Inside, Cohren was napping on the bed, with Sev laying on top of him, his head resting on Cohren's chest.

“Woah. They… I don’t know?” He shrugged. “This is news to me. No wonder they both opted to stay here while we were out…”

Pip giggled at his side. “Awwww… look how cute they are.”

“Like sleeping giants.” He laughed.

“I… don’t understand. Why would Cohren… I mean… of all people, _Sev?”_

He pulled her closer and kissed her temple. “Don’t question it. They both look happy, right? That’s all that matters.”

Pip snuck into the room and tried to cover them with a blanket. Sev’s eye popped open, watching her for a moment before he grabbed her and pulled her onto the bed with them. “Pip sandwich…”

Cohren stirred a little, “Is that Pip? Sev… let her go…” He succeeded in getting Sev to do so by rolling onto his side, forcing Sev away from her. “I’m still tired…” He sounded like he was asleep again by the time he finished the sentence.

Sev fell quiet at his side; they couldn’t really see him, but he appeared to move a little bit. Pip hurried out of the room, closing the door as she left. “I think they need privacy.” She laughed.

Cerys still looked completely bewildered. “I think it’s time to go home. Cohren’s lost his mind.”

 

**

 

Cerys tried to bite back her grin as she walked off the ship to Armitage. His hair had grayed a little more since she left, though not much. She threw her arms around him and he reacted with his usual shocked stiffness.

“I missed you.”

He relaxed a little, “It’s good to have you back.”

They’d communicated regularly via holo while she was away, but it was still so good to be back with her father. She’d loved every moment of their journey, but she’s also missed him so much.

“I’m making you dinner tonight.”

“Good. I’ve been waiting nearly a year for that.”

She laughed and hugged him tighter. She’d worried about him so much while she was away, but he seemed to be okay. Not much had changed, really. He still had a sadness about him that he couldn’t seem to recover from, but overall, she got the impression he was okay.

“Cohren,” He nodded at the tall blonde as he approached. “Good to see you again.”

Cohren nodded back, “Hux. Good to see you as well.” He motioned to Sev, standing at his side. Cerys braced herself. They’d let Sev in on her family’s secret just a week prior; he’d made a crude comment about Iz exacting revenge for the death of his family by sleeping with the daughter of the man responsible, and then spent the next three days cracking up any time he saw Cerys. “This is Sev. Sev, Hux.”

Sev snarled and held his hand out. She’d warned her father about him already. Hopefully he was ready for whatever was coming.

“I was going to make a smart comment, but you probably aren’t the sort of person someone should cross.”

Her father had this way of giving a look – in an instant he could turn from the man she grew up with – Armitage – to a cold, calculating, terrifying man – Hux. It was a subtle look, but that made it all the more effective.

He did not hold back with Sev. “That’s likely a wise deduction on your behalf.”

Sev drew his hand away quickly, taking a few steps back.

And like that, he turned it off, looking back to Cohren. “I spoke to your mother earlier today. She’s excited to see you. You should be on your way.”

The two left, waving to them.

Armitage looked at her, “So… his sister is here?”

She nodded, still not sure how this was going to go. “Yes, Iz’s sister…”

“I trust she knows?”

Cerys nodded, “Yes. Yes, she knows. She’s taken it well, externally at least. But… I get the feeling it hasn’t been easy for her. I’ve talked about you a lot. I think she’s used to the idea.”

He nodded. “How is Iz?”

She smiled, “Oh he’s good. Very good. Better than ever, I think. He’s very happy to have found his sister.”

“Armitage!” Iz stepped off the ship, waving to them. He had his satchel of belongings and a rucksack of his sister’s items, which was nearly bigger than she was.

“Oh… She’s…”

“Short?”

“Yes. Very short.”

Iz grinned at them as they approached, “This is my sister, Pip.”

Armitage looked down at the girl.

Pip looked up at him, her mouth twisted in a frown. She crossed her arms, “I thought I might kick you in the shin or something when I met you, at the very least. But whoever you are now, it isn’t the man I saw on the holo, murdering my whole family.”

Armitage didn’t respond. What could he have possibly said? He confided in her about it once when he’d had more than a few drinks. Anything he could say seemed either grotesquely inadequate or insensitive.

She huffed, “I guess Cerys helped make your case. This whole thing is so weird… It’s upsetting.” She scratched her nose, trying to hide the tears Cerys could see starting to well. Cerys grew to love this girl – she was an endless fountain of love, extremely in tune with other’s emotions, and strong. Pip dropped her hand away and looked up at him, “What do you usually say to people like me? People whose lives you destroyed?”

Armitage was terribly uncomfortable around tears; he avoided them like he was highly allergic. Cerys was surprised when he doesn’t look away from the girl. Rather, he looked sad.

“I don’t say anything. I’m fairly certain I’ve forfeited that right.”

She fell quiet, watching him closely. “I lost my mother, my father, and three brothers.”

He barely nodded.

“I miss them every day. It hurts.”

Her father blinked quickly and looked away from Pip. “Yes. I understand that.”

Pip’s big, tear filled eyes watched him closely. “You do, don’t you?” She sniffed a little and looked away from him. “I’m sorry for that. Nobody should have to suffer through the loss of a loved one.”

Armitage appeared surprised by her comment.

Pip shook her head, sighing, “Not even you. I forgot something on the ship. I’ll be back in a few.” She darted back onto the ship.

Iz watched after her. “That went better than I was expecting.”

“Your sister is… interesting.”

“I didn’t…” Iz shook his head. “I never told her anything about Mila. She tends to just pick up on these things.”

“Hm.” Armitage looked at the ship, more like he was trying to distract himself than anything. “You’ve taken good care of it.”

“Did you expect anything less?” Cerys smiled at him. He didn’t want to talk about Mila. She didn’t either, right now. Maybe this would be a good time to tell him about the wall Sev destroyed, so neither of them had to think about the pain that still loomed over him.

Or maybe they should just focus on the future. That seemed like a better option. “So… You have a new ship in the works?”

“Mm…” He nodded. “Yes, actually a few new ships. Not nearly the size of the one I used to command, but several smaller ones." He paused, as if remembering something offhandedly. "A very wise Admiral I once knew was heavily in favor of fleets comprised of more, smaller ships rather than a few very large ones. Gives a little more flexibility in terms of strategy. The older I get, the more I tend to agree with his philosophy.” He shook his head and glanced to her. “That being said, we’re bringing on a good deal of new help. I could use a good engineer.”

She smiled at him. “I think I could help you out with that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An Admiral in favor of small, flexible fleets? I wonder who that could be??? *~fOrEsHaDoWiNg~*
> 
>  
> 
> **  
> **  
> _HARKBACKER_  
>   
> 
> 
> * * *
> 
> Just as Sev threw his arm out to Force throw the man across the bar, a wave of something he’d never felt before hit Iz. He felt weak, a little dizzy.
> 
> Sev stood with his arm out, looking puzzled. The man was still standing in front of him. The Force throw didn’t work. He stumbled, “Wha…”
> 
> Evidently the man he tried to Force throw wasn’t completely stupid; he seized the opportunity to plant his fist firmly into Sev’s nose. Sev stumbled backward, covering his nose, “What the fuck?” Iz understood his confusion. He’d never seen a non-Force user able to land a punch on Sev. Whatever Iz was feeling -- this disconnect from the Force -- Sev was feeling as well.
> 
> Sev wiped the blood from his mouth and lunged at the man. Iz stepped in to try and stop it, but the second man joined his friend and he was quickly dragged into the fight. He heard Sev, struggling with his own fight, shout: “What the fuck are you doing here Cohren? Iz and I have this!”
> 
> “Like hell you do…” Cohren tried to pull the other man off Sev, but got punched in the face. Sev, naturally, did not like this.
> 
> The brawl continued for a few moments until a sixth pair of feet, wearing tall black boots, stepped in. The boots planted a firm kick into the ribs of the man Iz was tangled with. Iz backed away quickly, looking up.
> 
> It was a man he’d noticed earlier sitting in a dark corner of the bar – a Chiss - looking none too happy about being involved. He crouched down next to Iz and picked something yellow up off the floor. “Roz, you’re going to get crushed here...” His voice was deep and even, with a thick, rhythmic accent he didn’t recognize.
> 
> The man turned to the other three and pried Sev away powerfully -- he stumbled back, wiping at his still bloody mouth, “Who the fuck are you? Stay out of my fi...”
> 
> The Chiss turned to the man he and Cohren had been brawling with, looking intimidating and powerful. “You and your friend will leave, _now.”_
> 
> Maybe it was something about the way his red eyes seemed to glow, but he was downright frightening. The two looked at each other before cursing at the Chiss and pushing past him aggressively, one of them spitting on his boots as they left.
> 
> A lanky dark haired woman who was with him earlier stood with her arms crossed. She handed him a napkin and said something inaudible as he wiped his boot clean. He finished cleaning and stood, nodding to her. She brushed a piece of invisible fuzz from his shoulder, and the two headed for the exit.
> 
> Cerys was at his side, “Iz, are you okay? What happened? I’ve never seen either of you actually take a hit.”
> 
> “I… Yeah… That was…” He looked to Sev, who looked back at him with the same confused expression. Cohren was trying to talk the bartender into giving him a napkin so Sev could clean the blood from his face, but the bartender didn’t look happy they were even in his bar.
> 
> Wiping the blood from his face with his sleeve, Sev walked over to him. “You felt that too?”
> 
> “Yeah. I kept trying to use the Force but I just couldn’t tap into it...”
> 
> “Sev… seriously, you’re getting your shirt filthy.” Cohren pushed a wet napkin into his hand, “Wipe your face.”
> 
> Sev mumbled something to him; Iz was distracted by Pip, who was still standing where she’d safely backed away to, her eyes absolutely huge with shock. He got up from the floor and went to her. “Pip, are you okay?”
> 
> “Did any of you see that?”
> 
> “See what?”
> 
> “Us getting our asses kicked? Yeah, I noticed.” Sev said flatly, finally managing to get the blood off his face.
> 
> “That man… the Chiss… he had… one of those yellow lizards…” She shook her head quickly and hurried off for the door. “Hang on... I think I know who that was.”


End file.
